How to pay for your medical school education

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wisconsindoctor

wisconsindoctor

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Why don't more people take a year or two off between undergraduate school and medical school and work two or three jobs to save money up to pay for medical school on their own? The two years out of medical school can be used to work three jobs, one normal day time job and a night job. So you would work a job for the first shift and second shift. Then pick up a third job to work on the weekends. You would work a good 100 hours a week, but you would in theory be able to do this from May of graduation until the following June when the application cycle starts. So you could work 100 hours a week for 26 months. If you get the first job to pay around 25 dollars an hour, the second job to pay a good 25 dollars an hour, and the weekend job to pay about 15 dollars an hour, you could make about 215,680kdollars in the 26 months (pre-tax) and be able to pay for all of your medical school education.

You would leave medical school debt free.
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Finding 3 jobs with those wages would be near impossible. Also, you're assuming no days off? And no time for sleep? Talk about burn out. Even if I survived a year like that I would be so exhausted by the time school started. I'd rather get some debt and work it off slowly, I think.
 
It's a good idea in principle, but do you honestly think that is feasible?
 
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dd128 said:
It's a good idea in principle, but do you honestly think that is feasible?
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It's totally feasible. A good-paying day job could be as a research assistant. A good paying night-job could be as a stripper. Weekend job...hmm...maybe a bouncer at a club? You can take super-mini power naps throughout the day.
 
Actually, its a horrible idea. Why bother? Just take out loans. You'll make more money as a doctor than you will working your ass off at 3 lame-ass jobs that you can get with an undergrad degree. Its just a matter of when you want to pay for everything.

If you have the option of living at home, with no overhead, while you do this, it might be feasible. Assuming you can get the jobs. Otherwise, don't wast your time. Just go to school and pay for it later.
 
mc4435 said:
Finding 3 jobs with those wages would be near impossible. Also, you're assuming no days off? And no time for sleep? Talk about burn out. Even if I survived a year like that I would be so exhausted by the time school started. I'd rather get some debt and work it off slowly, I think.
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It sounds worse than it actually is. You work a normal 8 hours in your first shift and then a second shift of 8 hours. That still gives you 8 hours to sleep every night (granted you won't have much free time, but that isn't the point of this thread). On the weekends you would work two 8 hour days. So you would still have 16 hours free on both days on the weekend.

You would have to make so you do your shopping on the weekends and going out on the weekends only.

Yes a person can make the argument all they want about not having free time and such, but the point of this thread is to point out a creative way to pay for your medical school education so you can graduate debt free.
 
Or, you could work one job for a while, make decent money, save most of it and invest. If you pick the right stocks, you're golden.
 
nhtreehugger said:
It's totally feasible. A good-paying day job could be as a research assistant. A good paying night-job could be as a stripper. Weekend job...hmm...maybe a bouncer at a club? You can take super-mini power naps throughout the day.
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That's not a bad idea, though instead of the bouncer job on the weekends, just go from the stripping straight to a street corner...you'll already be dressed for the part, and you get to keep your weekends free for volunteering! :banana:
 
You could work and save up about $10,000 and then head to vegas. Pay for your med school tuition in one day if you're lucky. Otherwise, you're right back where you started.
 
1) This is longer, and harder, than paying off your debts once you're a doctor. If you want to murder yourself at least wait until you're a resident and then moonlight for over $100/hr.

2) 215K pre tax and pre living expenses is no where near enough to graduate debt free, unless you're going to a state school in a very generous state. For my school you'd need about 300K in the bank, which means you'd need to earn about 400K in those 26 months to cover both taxes and keeping yourself alive. If you know of a way to make 200K/year now just go ahead and skip medical school.

3) If you're masochistic enough to do this, then just join the rest of us on the military HPSP scholarship. Heck, even they give you 30 days leave.

4) Are you actually a doctor, or is your SN just crazy-optimistic?
 
OP, how about YOU be the one to try that and then let us know how it works out for you?

It's a perfect plan if you can open your eyes & be immediately at work, don't have to take time to eat during the day, can blink your eyes and be at the second job, and then blink them once again & be curled up in your bed at home. That's the only way you're going to the the 8-8-8 bit. Maybe you can shower in your sleep, too.

Just try making all your professional and car repair appointments during your off hours on the weekend. Also, it's very difficult finding three jobs which pay those wages to someone whose BS still has wet ink.

I did know someone who did the 3 jobs thing for a year. She was a single mother who was trying to make ends meet. The weekday jobs were near minimum wage, but the weekend job paid a bit better. She wound up being a walking zombie, unable to do anything efficiently.

Saying something would work theoretically is a way of saying that it doesn't actually work that way in reality.
 
I think the classic answer to "How do I pay for my medical education?" would be "By practicing medicine."
 
coldweatherblue said:
I think the classic answer to "How do I pay for my medical education?" would be "By practicing medicine."
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Haha.

A succinct response to the OPs silly suggestion. Why in the world you would waste your time working for peanuts when you could finish your training 2 years earlier and actually make real dough is beyond my comprehension. Your earning money would also probably affect your financial aid package from the med schools assuming you were in a place where you'd be elligible for one.
 
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Ice Nine said:
Worked fine for me.



You may find out that the job isn't so lame-ass. Furthermore, there is no guarantee of high salary vs. debt incurred as a physician ten years from now.

Many people would not agree with the OP's idea because they think that such jobs are beneath them.
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They are beneath you in the sense that you are wasting your time from an economic perspective. These jobs would have to be pretty damn enriching to outweigh the opportunity cost of delaying med school enrollment. Doing it simply to have money to defray educational costs is simply a poor financial decision, so you better have another reason for doing it.
 
The problem with the OP's idea is that he is neglecting the two years of lost physician-level wages due to enrolling in medical school two years later than normal. The only advantage to the OP's plan would be no interest incurred on debt, but the difference between two years of a doctors salary and two years of the odd-job salary would more that make up for the interest.
 
wisconsindoctor said:
Why don't more people take a year or two off between undergraduate school and medical school and work two or three jobs to save money up to pay for medical school on their own? The two years out of medical school can be used to work three jobs, one normal day time job and a night job. So you would work a job for the first shift and second shift. Then pick up a third job to work on the weekends. You would work a good 100 hours a week, but you would in theory be able to do this from May of graduation until the following June when the application cycle starts. So you could work 100 hours a week for 26 months. If you get the first job to pay around 25 dollars an hour, the second job to pay a good 25 dollars an hour, and the weekend job to pay about 15 dollars an hour, you could make about 215,680kdollars in the 26 months (pre-tax) and be able to pay for all of your medical school education.

You would leave medical school debt free.
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I feel like those are a little ridiculous wage rates to just throw out there like it's no problem to get. I mean, I don't make near those wages at my job. Granted, it's not the best job in the world, but it's hard enough to get one well-paying job, much less 3. I don't know, it just seems to me the OP probably hasn't worked much out in the real world on his/her own yet to understand exaclty what it is he/she's proposing.
 
Ice Nine said:
I'm simply not sold on the concept that physicians' salaries will continue to justify the massive educational debt required a decade from now.
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I completely agree with you there, but my comparison was between two years of lost physician wages versus no interest on med school debt (the only thing gained from the OP's plan). The two years of lost wages is far greater.
 
I know of two people who worked after college & before med school & earned enough to pay for med school -- but both were pro athletes.

For the average college grad, it is a far better deal financially to go straight to med school and reach the higher income years all the sooner.
 
MCAT scores only last for three years so you're gonna have to make time to study for them during this "i'm saving up for medical school" period. And when would you have time for the application process + interviews?

And when your interviewer asks "What do you like to do for fun?" . . .
 
Ice Nine said:
You're right. That's why it's better to not be the average college grad. You might find that those higher income years aren't so high.
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Eh? I was referring to the earning power of the typical college grad (who will ultimately be an attending physician) in comparison to a 20-something pro-athlete who will ultimately be an attending physician.

The idea is this:

a pro-athlete might bank well over $1 million in 2-3 years work making it worthwhile to delay the point at which s/he enters the practice of medicine

for most mere mortals, it is better to get right to med school and reach maximum earning potential as a physician all the sooner.

Don't be a jerk.
 
wisconsindoctor said:
Why don't more people take a year or two off between undergraduate school and medical school and work two or three jobs to save money up to pay for medical school on their own? The two years out of medical school can be used to work three jobs, one normal day time job and a night job. So you would work a job for the first shift and second shift. Then pick up a third job to work on the weekends. You would work a good 100 hours a week, but you would in theory be able to do this from May of graduation until the following June when the application cycle starts. So you could work 100 hours a week for 26 months. If you get the first job to pay around 25 dollars an hour, the second job to pay a good 25 dollars an hour, and the weekend job to pay about 15 dollars an hour, you could make about 215,680kdollars in the 26 months (pre-tax) and be able to pay for all of your medical school education.

You would leave medical school debt free.
Click to expand...

Mathematically it doesn't work out. Each year you take off, the amount you lose is equivalent to your salary on your LAST year of practice. Why work to save 20K now when you can work to save 80k later?


As for your question, I pay with my savings.
 
The original poster must be either joking or just completely crazy. But this discussion brings up a point that I would like to make: don't go to medical school if your family is not able to help you out in a large way (unless of course medicine is a 'calling' to you, or whatever). The students motivated by more personal reasons (which is most of them if you're honest about it) will find medicine to be more challenging emotionally and physically than they thought, and less rewarding in terms of personal glory and money. Bottom line -- use your family money if you have it and if you don't, consider that once you're on the train it's a long, long road and it's very expensive in terms of money and personal sacrifice. Not trying to scare, but telling it like it is. Now, if you're not concerned about the money, or you think it's crude to talk about these things, there will come a time when you are worried about it. Most of the docs these days didn't have much debt coming out and most had none. This is why they look down on those going into lifestyle fields. But their situations were much different. They could afford to live very nicely on a primary care salary. These days your take home is a lot less b/c of high education costs. For those who are doing medicine because they really love patient care and don't care about the personal glory and prestige this salary is more than enough. Those people are quite rare, however. I personally think it's a slap in the face to see how much I had to drop to get my MD and how much a family practice attending earns, considering how important their work is. Those who have never had to support themselves may not understand this post.
 
Drogba said:
Why do I have to to be the girl? You should've said "If only I were a girl." :laugh:
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:laugh: Haha, no need to resort to that, I like Begaster. He was the only one to appreciate both Matisyahu and Lupe. :thumbup: Major plus points for that.
 
Ice Nine said:
Everyone is also ignoring my point out about a regional admissions disadvantage. If you are a middling applicant on a national scale, you will be behind the 8 ball on the west coast and several other states. Working in the meantime may pan out big time.
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Moving and working a few years to gain residency in a state where in-state admissions is favorable is not a bad idea. (in fact, it is a very good idea and saves big bucks)

Working 100 hours per week to save enough money to put yourself through med school is not a good idea.
 
LizzyM said:
Working 100 hours per week to save enough money to put yourself through med school is not a good idea.
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Ditto this. Advising folks to expect to pre-pay off medical school by working 100 hour weeks for two years is criminally bad advice. A couple of problems with the OP's suggestion:

1. 100 hours a week is a lot of hours. A way lot of hours. Most lawyers and physicians don't work this many hours. Even residents don't. 60 hours is taxing on people to work, 100 is nigh on impossible.

2. Multiple full-time jobs is not realistic. A full-time job expects you to be there full-time. If you're working 8 hours after another 8 hour shift, you will not be altogether engaged.

3. $25/hr for a second job is not realistic. See #2. If you're working a second full-time job, expect it to be at a Shop-n-Rob or picking up phones for an answering service.

The only way the OPs suggestion is going to be realistic is if you're already established (or well on your way to being established) in a professional or technical career path that allows you all the hours you want (tech, nursing, etc.).

But this isn't realistic for most college graduates. And advising folks to start a second career path (like nursing, PharmD, etc.) and invest several years on the chance for working 100 hours to save on taking out some loans is a very bad idea.

Caveat emptor...
 
Ice Nine said:
Investing in nursing doesn't require any more years of schooling and is high yield for salary.

The 100 hours thing is far-fetched, but my previously-described scenario is doable without much discomfort. The key is that you have to be willing to get training in a professional degree path for a field that needs people 24/7.

All of my experience is 20/20 hindsight, and you're correct in that this plan will not work for a college student used to the comfort of a university village. You have to be hungry to work 80 hours/week and enjoy it.
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i think most people here are already in their junior/senior years and thus switching to a different field would kinda be out of the question, not to mention the difficulties that one might encounter with adcoms as a nurse seeking a MD.
 
Do most people work more during holidays? I did not want to but my boss called this morning to ask if I would more and I said yes. now I don't want to work more.
 
Ice Nine said:
I've never seen any evidence to suggest that nurses are discriminated against during the admissions process. Citation?
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I never meant to say that they were discriminated against just that they might be asked "why did you take up a spot in nursing school when you knew that you would pursue an MD?" or "why not nursing?"

Just something that people should consider and understand that this will be questioned during interviews.
 
I know someone who worked full time through PA school and they told me to never ever do it, ever.
 
novastorm said:
I know someone who worked full time through PA school and they told me to never ever do it, ever.
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Woah.. that is hardcore. I have a friend who is currently in the PA program in Cornell. It already sounds like they squash all the sciences into 1 year and on top of that they have to maintain a certain grade level to stay in the program. Damn..

I guess I'll have to take out a lifetime in loans and strip on the side to pay down the interest.

I've already enrolled in pole-dancing lessons. ;)
 
Ice Nine said:
Easy. After going into it, I decided that it wasn't for me. Or, if you work some between college and med school, it would be a career change just like any other. Do engineers get asked why they aren't continuing to build bridges?
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the difference is that in the case we're talking about a person who went into nursing knowing that they would apply to med school. they're just using nursing to make some cash in the meantime.

I just think it's kinda unethical to take a nursing spot away from someone that genuinely has an interest in making a career of it just for the sake of making some extra cash, seeing that it is a professional degree program that usually has limited enrollment.
 
Honestly, the premise of this thread is ridiculous and ill-conceived. If you really have the drive to work that much, just do so once you're a physician. You're wasting time between college and medical school, which is time that you're taking away from being a working physician. As a physician, making $100 an hour is not at all out of reach, and I've heard of some procedure-based specialists working 100+ hours a week and making over half a million a year.

Besides, good luck finding two jobs that pay $25 an hour. :rolleyes:
 
Ice Nine said:
Many people would not agree with the OP's idea because they think that such jobs are beneath them.
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Actually, I've worked some fairly low jobs, and I'm realistic and realize that a $25/hr job for me is about twice as much as I can make, and the only time I can $13-14 an hour is during the summer when I can landscape. This time of year is awfully quiet for landscapers. As an EMT, I can make a whopping $8 an hour. I am absolutely positive that I will make more as a physician.
 
TheProwler said:
Actually, I've worked some fairly low jobs, and I'm realistic and realize that a $25/hr job for me is about twice as much as I can make, and the only time I can $13-14 an hour is during the summer when I can landscape. This time of year is awfully quiet for landscapers. As an EMT, I can make a whopping $8 an hour. I am absolutely positive that I will make more as a physician.
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That sucks. As an EMT I could make 15 an hour base pay, and time and a half for OT.
 
I was just going to sell my eggs online. Sure beats working three jobs.
 
Aynsl156 said:
I was just going to sell my eggs online. Sure beats working three jobs.
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No kidding. I'm wondering if the thread starter has ever worked 100 hours in a week. The closest I ever came was about 85 hours, and it was definitely tiring.
 
If you dont mind working with the military, get the military to help you out. I know in Canada, the Canadian Forces will pay for every last cent of expense, including tuition, books, food, living, rent, etc etc etc. The catch is that you gotta work with the army for just as many months that they fund, which usually is four to five years. The good part is you get paid a salary on top of all the expenses paid during school, and you get salary during work after med school with the army. So, eight years of salary, with no expense for med school, and a guaranteed job after med school, and most likely two or three promotions due to time in, and officer ranks. Sounds like the way to go.


Cheers
Piyush
 
Ideal financial scenario: Full scholarship to both college and medical school, and staying at home all 8 years (saving thousands in rent, etc) and graduating with no debt at all. I'm going for it.
 
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